Dreams must be heeded and accepted. For a great many of them come

“Dreams must be heeded and accepted. For a great many of them come true.” Thus spoke Paracelsus, the alchemist-physician of the Renaissance, whose words gleam like a secret written in the stars. In this single sentence, he offers a truth both mystical and enduring — that dreams are not mere fancies of the night, but messages, prophecies, and reflections of the soul. He warns that to ignore them is to close one’s ear to the whisper of destiny. For within the mysterious theatre of sleep, the spirit reveals its desires, its fears, and sometimes, the shape of things yet to come. To heed one’s dreams is not superstition, but wisdom; it is to listen to the deep music that plays beneath the surface of waking life.

Paracelsus, born Theophrastus von Hohenheim in the early sixteenth century, was a man who defied the world’s conventions. A physician who scorned the rigid doctrines of his time, he sought truth in nature, in the stars, and in the hidden workings of the human soul. To him, man was not merely flesh and bone, but a vessel of divine fire — and dreams were the language of that divine essence. He believed that the mind, unbound by waking reason, could travel beyond the walls of the world, touching realities that the day cannot see. In the stillness of night, when thought sleeps and the spirit awakes, truth may speak — if only we have the courage to listen.

Across history, the dream has often been the bridge between man and the unknown. Joseph, in the ancient scriptures, dreamed of famine and plenty, and through that vision, saved nations. Mary Shelley, in her youth, dreamed of a scientist who gave life to a creature of his own making — and awoke to write Frankenstein, a tale that would haunt humanity’s imagination for centuries. Martin Luther King Jr., too, declared his dream before the world — and that dream became the flame of justice. These are not coincidences, but manifestations of what Paracelsus meant: that dreams are seeds, planted in the soil of the subconscious, and when nourished with faith and action, they bloom into reality.

But not all dreams speak of prophecy. Some are born from the deep hunger of the heart — from the part of us that yearns for wholeness, truth, or love. To heed such dreams is to understand oneself; to reject them is to live half-blind. Many live their entire lives ignoring the inner voice that whispers what they might become. They silence their imagination for fear of failure, and thus, their dreams wither before they are born. Yet Paracelsus tells us that the dream is sacred. It is the compass of the soul, pointing always toward meaning. When we learn to listen, we rediscover the hidden harmony between our inner and outer worlds.

Still, to accept a dream is no easy task. It is an act of courage. For the dream often demands that we change — that we rise from comfort, abandon the familiar, and walk the perilous path of creation. The artist must paint the vision he sees in his sleep. The inventor must build what his mind glimpsed in the quiet hours. The lover must pursue what his heart has longed for in silence. To heed one’s dream is to dare the unknown. It is to believe that what has been shown in shadow may yet be born in light. Faith is the bridge between the dream and its fulfillment.

And yet, there is a deeper wisdom still. Paracelsus does not say that all dreams come true, but that a great many of them do. This is his secret mercy: that while not every dream manifests in the world, every dream reveals something essential within us. Even the impossible dream is a mirror of the divine potential that stirs inside the human spirit. Whether fulfilled or not, each dream awakens in us the longing to reach higher, to see farther, to become more than we are. The dream, then, is both message and movement, guiding us toward growth.

So, my child of the ages, remember this: hearken to your dreams. Do not dismiss them as folly, nor confine them to the night. Write them down, ponder them, and let them speak. When a vision seizes you — whether in sleep or in waking — treat it as sacred. Ask what it demands of you, and what truth it reveals. For in every dream lies a doorway, and through it walks the person you are meant to become. The world belongs not to those who mock their dreams, but to those who listen, who labor, and who dare to believe that what they have seen within can one day stand before them in the light. For truly, as Paracelsus said, dreams must be heeded and accepted — for a great many of them come true.